Dubai is awarding a multimillion dollar prize for the world’s best self-driving transport

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Nadja Beschetnikova

May 10, 2018

In October 2019, Dubai will host a World Congress for Self-Driving Transport, which will also include the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport. The event is aimed at large companies, start-ups and local and international universities. This is the first of its kind event in the Middle East.

The Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has opened the registration for the challenge on May 1st. Interested startups, entrepreneurs, and companies can join the competition, which prize money exceeds $5 million. According to RTA, prizes of $3 million will be allocated for the leading companies category, with another $1.5 million for star-ups, and $600,000 for universities and academia.

The challenge is not only for entertainment, it’s part of the plan to transform 25 percent of total mobility trips in Dubai into driverless trips by 2030.

Participants of the challenge will undergo several checks, which shall help to evaluate the reliability of the vehicles, safety and other technical features. The vehicles will be also tested under realistic traffic conditions. The finalists will be announced in October 2018. The winners will be disclosed during the congress, in October 2019.

"The Dubai World Challenge for self-driving transportation offers a unique opportunity to showcase the pioneering innovations and solutions stemming from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates to promote their vision and policies for transportation of tomorrow," said John Rossant, the chairman of NewCities Foundation and Direction of the LA CoMotion Conference.

In February, the RTA has already launched the first tests of the world’s first autonomous pods.